


Sunset Coffee

by Lovelywik



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Katsuki Yuuri, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Slight Angst but not really???, Writer Victor Nikiforov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 21:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13256859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovelywik/pseuds/Lovelywik
Summary: Yuuri has a crush on a regular customer, Victor. Victor has a crush on the barista in his favourite coffee shop. Both are too shy to do anything about it.





	Sunset Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> This is a (very late im so freaking sorry) Secret Santa present for someone in a discord server I'm in! I hope you enjoy!

The sun was setting over the horizon, a gradient of reds, pinks, and oranges-- a constant ever-changing tapestry. A tapestry that would be vibrant and full of warm, then eventually fade into the cool indigoes and darken into an infinite black. This was exactly how Yuuri felt his life was like.

Yuuri watched the sunset from his balcony above the cafe. The store had just closed, and with it, his chance to ask the beautiful Victor out on a date. Yet again.

He always did this. Always fumbling with his words whenever he laid his eyes on the beautiful man. Okay not necessarily always. He was able to easily talk to him when he was at work, chatting with him while he made the order. But once his shift ended, it was so difficult to push himself into going for it.

Yuuri sighed once again, shaking his head with disappointment. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe it was just something he’d have to put up with for the rest of his life. He looked back up at the sky, watching as the vibrant hues swirl, the edges of the night sky beginning to take over the skies.

He turned around back into his home, closing the balcony doors with a soft click.

_________

Victor was known for many things, and being shy was not one of them. Yet, each time he found himself at his favourite coffee shop, he couldn’t get myself to say more than a “Hello, how are you today?” to the cute barista who worked there.

On a typical day at this cafe he would first glance through the window of the store to check if Yuuri was working. If he was, he would then proceed to enter, striding to the register with a confident and bright smile and order his drink. Then he would chat idly with Yuuri, mostly thinking about how cute he was. And once his drink was handed to him, he would then go sulk in the corner of the cafe out of sight, pull out his laptop, then start typing away his feelings of inadequacy on a word document.

 _Why can’t I just ask him out?_ He would write. _He’s so cute, and so sweet, and so captivating ahhhhhhhhh. It’s not like I lack the confidence, I love talking to people!! But why can’t I get myself to say something? Pull yourself together Victor!_

Victor would then look up toward the counter, where the barista would be chatting with a coworker with short wild hair. He would then adjust the collar on his shirt, give himself a pep talk in his head, telling himself how proud Makkachin and Chris would be of him if he just got up and actually talked to the cute barista.

And then when Yuuri would look his way, Victor would end up just smiling fondly. And hidden behind his sweet smile was a hint of desire laced with amusement. Because like always, the barista’s face would flush pink. Victor couldn’t help but find that endearing.

Here’s the thing that frustrates Victor most about their weird wishy washing circling routine: he was very sure (81.2% sure) his crush was reciprocated. Yet, for some odd reason, he could never get himself to maybe ask, “Can I order something off menu? You?” Or even a simple, “What’s your favourite drink? Want to have some with me after you’re done your shift?” Each time he stood in front of that cash with Yuuri right there for him to ask out, he chickened out. It was the first time he was actually scared of getting rejected. Even if there seemed to be a chance for him, he’d rather be able to stay in his company in this quaint little cafe than be rejected.

And so, Victor sat in his seat in the cafe once again, contemplating on how to go about Asking Yuuri the Barista out but never actually doing anything about it.

 _________ 

On Yuuri’s day off, he found himself strolling through the Christmas market on his way home from grocery shopping. The colourful lights dangling in the sky were lit despite the sun still shining in the sky, the smell of mint and cinnamon filled the air, the only thing missing was the snow.

Christmas was still three weeks away, yet the joy and excitement of everyone around him made it feel like it was only days away. It was a palpable feeling, one Yuuri felt like he could grasp in his hand and join in on. Yet, his thoughts of Victor was like a thick block of ice, preventing the happiness of everyone else to melt through.

Victor’s frequent visits to the cafe had begun to decline, from visiting almost every day to just once a week. They weren’t even what Yuuri considered, “real friends” and Yuuri felt his heart break each day Victor wasn’t there. Like this was some form of a breakup. Phichit would tell him otherwise, but Yuuri couldn’t help what he felt. It was stupid to feel despair and sadness and regret and anxiety over such a small thing. He had been so sure there was something between the two of them, their chemistry was as palpable as the energy of the Christmas market-- yet neither of them had done anything about it.

Yuuri breathed in the cold winter air through his nose, sighing after a moment. Maybe it was time for him to move on. Time for him to stop expecting anything from it and just accept the fact that Victor was moving on from visiting his family’s quaint little cafe.

He closed his eyes and sighed once more before continuing on his way home, turning on the corner of Front St.

And there, he smacked right into the chest of someone.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” They both said at the same time, dazed.

Yuuri shook his head to reorient himself, looking back at the person he bumped into. His eyes widened with shock to find himself gazing into the brilliant blue eyes of the one and only Victor he had been crushing on for the past few months. The very one who he had just told himself to get over.

“Uh… hi Victor!” He squeaked out loud. And then he noticed the coffee cup. In Victor’s hand was a cup of coffee with the Katsuki Cafe’s logo, the lid on the ground and half the coffee melting the snow on the ground.

“Yuuri!”

“I’m so sorry about your cup, I’ll get you a new one. Come on, the cafe isn’t too far from here. I was just on my way there.”

“Oh no it’s alright, I’m in a rush to get to work.” Victor glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh no are you sure? I insist! It’s my fault for not looking where I was going.”

There was a brief pause, the beat of a heart.

Once.

Twice.

Yuuri looked up at Viktor, noticing the greyness to his usually bright complexion. And without a thought, he took the coffee cup from Viktor’s hand, poured out the rest of the coffee onto the snowbank. He took his hand, and lead him back toward the coffee shop.

_________

Viktor wasn’t sure what was happening.

First, he was under pressure for a deadline. His final draft was due in soon and he was still nowhere near having his edits finished. And so, he stopped frequenting the place of his reciprocated yet unaffirmed crush ( _love_ ) of his life because his so-called love of his life was a big distraction.

And now, after weeks of not going to the Katsuki cafe as much as he wanted, with days left to work on his edits for his upcoming novel, all he could think about was Yuuri. He missed his presence. Missed talking to him, even if it was for short times. And so he decided to go book a meeting to talk with his agent for an extension.

Second, this afternoon he had gone from bad to worse. Makkachin had been naughty and ripped apart half of his manuscript. He had to go to the printer to reprint all his hard work. Then when he went to grab some coffee before heading out to meet his agent, five minutes later on his walk, some stranger bumps into him spilling it everywhere.

Third, the stranger turns out to not be a stranger at all, but to be his Yuuri. And now, Yuuri was  _holding his HAND_. Guiding him back to the cafe. This was all too much for Viktor to really take in. He wasn’t sure if today was some surreal dream.

“I hope your clothes are okay,” Yuuri said softly. “The coffee didn’t stain any of your clothes did it?”

“No I’m all right,” Viktor replied.

“That’s good.”

They entered the cafe, the bell chiming sweetly overhead as the door opened. Yuuri lead Viktor to his regular seat, smiling sheepishly at him.

“I’m just going to put my stuff away and I’ll get to remaking your order.”

Yuuri turned around, heading for the back stairs that lead to the apartment upstairs. Viktor watched as he left, his heart beating faster than ever. He was going to be late for his appointment. But to the hell with it.

He pulled out his phone. He opened his messages with Yakov, letting him know he couldn’t make it today because something important came up. Today, he was going to turn this not-so-great day around. It had already begun to turn when he bumped into Yuuri. And today, he was going to finally ask Yuuri out.

 _________

Upstairs, Yuuri was in a panic.

His face was flushed pink, thinking of the fact that HE HELD VIKTOR’S HAND!! He held his cheeks, patting them in an attempt to cool them down. He needed to focus.

All this was happening so fast. But with how slow things had gone between them over the months of just talking over the counter, it sort of made sense how meeting outside by accident was speeding things up? He wasn’t sure. He shook his head, arranged his thoughts, then quickly donning his barista apron. He needed to head downstairs to start making Viktor’s drink.

The cafe was quiet, only two other customers in the shop asides from Viktor. Mari, Yuuri’s sister, was by the register giving Yuuri a knowing look which Yuuri promptly avoided by grabbing a medium sized cup.

“Yuuri.” He looked up, meeting blue eyes and a soft smile. Viktor stood before him, across the counter, like many times before.

“Viktor,” He smiled back. “I’ll have your usual ready in just a minute.”

“Why don’t you make your favourite drink too?”

Yuuri blinked. “I-- Don’t you have to get to work?”

“I canceled my appointment, Yakov can wait another day. Why don’t you sit with me? You’re not supposed to be working today anyway, right?”

Yuuri could feel his neck begin to warm. “I suppose… I could have a drink with you.”

“Yay! I’ll be waiting for you.”

 _________ 

The sun had gone began to set, the light casting an orangey pink light through the windows Mari had closed the shop early, as it was a Wednesday evening, telling them not to get too crazy here. And so, Yuuri and Viktor sat across from one another, hands on their cups, both jittery from the coffee and nerves.

They had been chatting for a few hours now, talking about the past few weeks. About the weather, their favourite drinks, their dogs-- about everything. They talked about things they never really got to talk about over the counter. They laughed and talked and smiled and sipped their coffee and drank in one another. The longer they talked, the more their nerves faded. And soon came the topic of sports.

“I love skating,” Viktor said with a dreamy smile. “I used to skate when I was younger. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to actually pursue skating as a career.”

“Me too! I watch the competitions each year, always wondering what it would have been like to skate in front of an audience like that.”

“I’m sure you would have been amazing. You would pull the attention from all the countries.”

Yuuri blushed. “You too! You know, I love skating, but I haven’t been on the ice in ages.”

There. An opening.

A pause.

They looked at each other, shy smiles forming on their faces.

“Do you maybe want to go skating with me?” They both blurted at the same time. Then they both laughed.

“Tomorrow?” Yuuri asked, twisting his cup around in circles in his hands.

“Yes!”

“Meet me here tomorrow morning? I’ll have coffee ready for the both of us.”

“Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to ask you out on a date? Probably ever since I stumbled into this wonderfully cute little cafe.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Me too.” Viktor took Yuuri’s hands, stopping the endless twisting. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll bring you roses and a five-page poem about my endless adoration of you.”

“Oh my gosh Viktor!”

Viktor leaned in, giving Yuuri a peck on the cheek. “I’ve wanted to do that since the beginning as well.”

_________ 

Soon the day would be done. And soon Yuuri would see Viktor again. Not behind a counter, and not by accident. It would be on a planned date. One where they would meet for coffee, go skating, maybe kiss under the mistletoe somewhere on their way back through the Christmas Market.

Yuuri looked up at the sky. It was dark, an infinite black, but there are always stars shining brightly in the sky.


End file.
